Budget concerns have led Kenner to close a fire station to avoid paying firefighters overtime to staff it.

"If there was a way I could avoid this, I certainly would," Fire Chief John Hellmers said. "I have a responsibility to the voters to have a balanced budget. Right now my budget is not balanced."

The station, at 3343 Williams Blvd., is home to a rescue squad but no fire trucks with pumping capacity, Hellmers said.

The rescue truck is normally staffed by two firefighters and contains medical equipment, such as an automatic external defibrillator, extraction tools know as the "jaws of life" and portable lighting for night investigations, Hellmers said. The truck was used at a wreck scene Wednesday night when three people were killed on Interstate 10.

Capt. Mickey Giarrusso, president of the firefighters union, said closing the station takes a "vital piece of equipment off the streets."

"The politicians are playing games with the citizens' lives when they shut down stations," he said. "Not only are we victims, but the citizens are victims. We lose equipment out on the scene, and the citizens are losing quality service."

The station was closed today and will likely be closed two or three days each week, depending on whether staffing it would require paying overtime, Hellmers said.

In just the first six months of fiscal 2009-10, which runs from July 1 to June 30, the Fire Department spent twice the money budgeted for overtime for the entire year, Hellmers said. The annual budget set aside $127,000 for overtime, but the department spent $284,188 through Dec. 31. January figures are not available.

"I'm trying to cut my overtime costs," Hellmers said. "It's really the only way I can try and balance this fiscal year budget."

The Williams Boulevard fire station was closed a few years ago when a new station opened near Vintage Drive, but it later reopened, officials said.

Hellmers said he checked to ensure that closing the station won't affect Kenner's fire protection rating, which affects property insurance premiums. Most of the equipment on the rescue squad is also on other fire trucks, Hellmers said.